Alex Trelinski
A MURCIA region fraudster conned lost dog owners into believing he could find the pets and even mocked them after they transferred him money.
The 41-year-old man has been arrested in Ceuti and charged with ten fraud crimes with the Guardia Civil investigating whether more people had been duped.
Two people reported dog thefts in Alicante province in June and both of them spread requests for help via social media.
In both cases, the conman contacted them saying that he had seen online adverts for the animals where the seller was charging €200 each for the pets.
The fraudster told the distraught dog owners that he did not have enough money to pay for them but he could ‘rescue’ them if the fees were transferred to him and he would then reunite them with the dogs.
The victims fell into his trap by immediately transferring the money and oblivious to the fact that the man knew nothing about the whereabouts of their pets.
Not content with a successful scam, once he had the cash, he actually contacted the pet owners to mock them about being hood-winked.
The Guardia’s investigation uncovered that at least eight other people had been tricked in an identical fashion in Cadiz, Granada, Leon, Malaga, Sevilla and Tarragona provinces.
It was revealed the fraudster had a criminal record for previously committing similar scams.
On a brighter note, two of the reported missing dogs have been located in animal shelters in Cadiz and Leon.
GOT A STORY? Email us at tips@theolivepress.es
